Our family arose with great expectation for this day. It was Monday November 12, 2012. My family of 6 had hit our Orlando vacation in stride. We were on day 5 of a 10-day, once-in-a-lifetime full Disney World Experience. Our kids were at the perfect ages. Two boys, ages 10 and 12. Two girls ages 6 and 8.
We had visited each of the parks in the previous 4 days and had taken a day off to recuperate. Today was the day that we were going back to the Magic Kingdom for the second time. We were pumped! All of us had our own agenda for what was going to make this day the best of the entire trip. And surprisingly, we were ALL on the same page.
The weather was perfect. 72 degrees. Partly sunny. We were well rested. We knew our way around. We were seasoned park-goers. We were going to suck every single second of life out of this day and we were going to sleep tonight with permanent smiles on our faces.
We rode rides. Had lunch with princesses. We had NO LINES. We rode Space Mountain 10 times. Our lunch was perfectly timed with no waiting in line. The stars had all lined up for our little family.
If there has ever been a PERFECT day, at the PERFECT place with the PERFECT weather – this was it.
Disney should have used us for marketing
We started the day early and left only after we experienced the MAGICAL DISNEY ELECTRICAL PARADE as the park was shutting down. Our vantage point for the Electrical Parade was perfect. Our snacks held us over until our meals. Shoot, we didn’t even get ice cream on any of our clothes. Yes, we were there ALL day, did everything everyone wanted to do with no complaining, no lines, no issues and no problems.
If you are reading this, you feel it coming, don’t you?
We had booked a 2-room suite with connecting interior doors in one of the spectacular on-site resorts. We loaded the shuttle back to the resort with everyone smiling and laughing. Even the bus driver noticed just how happy we all were. The buzz from our family riding back to the resort was contagious. Giggling. Laughing. Telling stories. Wow.
We unloaded from the shuttle and began the very short walk to the main floor elevator to get up to our 3rd story room. And that’s when the rug, the symbolic rug of happiness that we were all innocently standing on, gut pulled out from under us.
The Ruination of Perfection
“I call pushing the elevator button!” yelled our 8-year-old daughter, Emma.
The utter delight of pushing elevator buttons must be lost on most people. I am one of them. But to our kids, apparently, there is no greater honor bestowed upon you than to have the great privilege of calling the elevator to action and giving it direction to go either “up” or “down”. No dessert, no cartoon, no surprise birthday pony can possibly compare to getting to push that button. And when you “call” something, its the law.
At least that is how Emma reacted when Levi jumped in front of her and pushed it.
All. Hell. Broke. Loose.
In the middle of the main floor foyer.
Of the fully-booked All-Star Disney resort.
At Midnight.
His feet may have touched the ground a few times
I took Levi by the collar and drug him down the hallway to our room and threw the door open, and it closed and locked behind me. The rest of the family was left to sit quietly, heads-down, in grade-school tornado warning position, while I had a very important meeting with my 10-year-old son.
Happiness and Joy are NOT the same thing
Happiness is circumstantial and fleeting. There is no greater example in my own life than this story. My kids, my family, even me. We were all “happy” all day long until one single circumstance that didn’t go well changed everything. Happiness is what the world is doing for you. That can change by the millisecond.
Joy, on the other hand, is what we are giving to the world. It’s internal. It comes from a peace inside our heart and soul and the world sees it and takes notice. For joy isn’t circumstantial. Those of us who are followers of Christ, the Joy of the Lord provides a quiet joy even in the midst of terrible, awful life issues.
I CALL SHOTGUN!
The heart-stopping importance of the “calling” of things like pushing elevator buttons, riding shotgun or the last slice of pizza, has faded. We have all put the “Disney incident” behind us and the kids have grown up and other, more truly important things have taken over their hearts. We pray that as our kids mature, the selfish “I call” mentality will continue to be replaced by an others-first mentality, and the happiness that is so often based on the current circumstances will be replaced by true, unshakable, inner joy.
